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HomeOur Rights to Health in Latin America: A Type 1 Diabetes Advocacy Workshop

Our Rights to Health in Latin America: A Type 1 Diabetes Advocacy Workshop

Watch the recording of this meaningful workshop where we hear from Latin American leaders about their experiences implementing rights-based advocacy initiatives for type 1 diabetes (T1D). The workshop was held in Spanish and live-translated to English and Portuguese.

The workshop focused on experiences from the T1D community in Latin America, spanning Mexico, Brazil, Guatemala, Panama, Bolivia, Argentina, and more. Translatable techniques were discussed, so people from all across the globe, and those working for change in other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) will benefit from watching.

Participants of the workshop will gain:

  • an understanding of what rights-based advocacy for access to diabetes care looks like and how this approach can work in the real-world;

  • a comprehension of how advocates across LATAM are increasing awareness of what people living with diabetes need to attain the highest attainable standard of health;

  • knowledge of how the community has been working to end inequalities and discrimination in their countries; and

  • an ability to network and identify specific tools that can be used to support rights-based advocacy approaches going forward.

Presented in partnership:

Keynote Speaker

Dr Martín Hevia

Dr Martín Hevia

Director General of Studies at Torcuato Di Tella University and President of the Ibero-American Association of Law Schools

 Argentina

Martín is the General Director of studies at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella and an Associate Professor at the School of Law. He has held the positions of Dean (2017-2022), Executive Dean (2013-2017) and Director (2010-2016) of the School of Law. He holds a Doctorate in Law (S.J.D.) from the University of Toronto, Canada (2007) and a Law degree from the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella (2001).

His research on civil and commercial law, public health law, bioethics and legal innovation has been published in editorials and international journals. Since 2021, he has been president of the Ibero-American Association of Law Schools and Faculties.

Martín has been an Advisor to the Honorable Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation and a consultant to the Pan American Health Organization. He was the 1st President of the Alliance for a Framework Convention on Global Health and is a member of the Governing Council of NCD Child and the Advisor to FIC Argentina.

He also served as Director of the Journal of Law & Equality in Canada (2004-2006) and the 1st Director of the Argentine Journal of Legal Theory (1999-2000).

Moderators

Mariana Gómez

Mariana Gómez

T1D Advocate

Mexico/USA

Mariana is a psychologist and diabetes educator. She is the creator of Dulcesitosparami, one of the first online spaces for people with type 1 diabetes in Mexico.  She has worked in civil organizations since 2006 when she joined the Mexican Diabetes Federation’s team.

Mariana is a member of Blue Circle Voices and currently serves as VP of International Markets at Beyond Type 1. She was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes more than 30 years ago. She is the mother of a teenager.

Dr Mark Barone

Dr Mark Barone

Vice-President, International Diabetes Federation

Brazil

Dr. Mark Barone holds a PhD in Human Physiology and two post-graduate diplomas, in Diabetes Education and in Communication. Dr. Barone has more than two decades of experience in public and global health, education, empowerment, and advocacy.

He is currently Vice-President of the International Diabetes Federation, Founder and General Manager of the Intersectoral Forum to Fight NCDs in Brasil, member of the IAPO’s Scientific Advisory Board, of the BMJ’s Patient Advisory Panel, of the Ramaiah International Centre for Public Health Innovations, and member of the Steering Committee of Life for a Child and of the NCD-LAB-GCM/WHO.

Meet the Speakers

Jasser, Indiana and Andrés

Jasser, Indiana and Andrés

T1D Advocates

Nicaragua

Jasser and Indiana are parents of Andrés Enrique, who was diagnosed with T1D in August 2021 in Nicaragua. Since that date, they set out to learn everything related to this condition, finding very little updated information in their country. Their dream is to make visible the situation in their country (second poorest in Latin America) in order to generate educational opportunities in T1D.

To date, they have begun to interact with other families who live with T1D by creating a support group for parents on WhatsApp and are planning to hold the first camp for children and adolescents with T1D in Nicaragua. A very big challenge that they hope to meet in February next year.

Gisela Ayala Téllez

Gisela Ayala Téllez

Executive Director Federacion Mexicana de Diabetes

Mexico

Gisela is the Executive Director of the Federacion Mexicana de Diabetes, where she has worked since 2004. She was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1991 and has more than 20 years’ experience in communications and 10 years of experience in developing diabetes education tools.

Gisela is a journalist from Journalist School Carlos Septien García and hosts the radio program “Diabetes y yo” which is broadcast every Friday at noon on Radio Educacion.

Laura Ortiz Pinell

Laura Ortiz Pinell

T1D Advocate

Bolivia

Laura is 27 years old and has type 1 diabetes, uses an insulin pump and a CGM. She is an architect by profession and works independently as an interior designer.

She has worked as a volunteer at camps and on projects focused on diabetes education in Bolivia since 2009 and also in collaboration with the youth camp in Chile in 2017. Laura is an advocate and spokesperson for Bolivia together with T1International.

Janina Argueta

Janina Argueta

Founder Asociación Creciendo con Diabetes

Guatemala

Janina is the Founder of Asociación Creciendo con Diabetes and has directed the organization since 2009. In 2009 the association supported 15 children from low-income families, today there are already more than 300.

In 2022 she published the Manual of Mothers for Parents and caregivers of children with Type 1 Diabetes. She is currently working on a number of ambitious projects with the association, such as the training of mentors to assist in education and support for families living with type 1 diabetes.

Natán Arioc Pereira Gutiérrez

Natán Arioc Pereira Gutiérrez

T1D Advocate

Bolivia

Natán Pereira has been living with Type 1 Diabetes for 20 years. He was born in Santa Cruz de la Sierra-Bolivia, and has from an early age been a participant in different events and activities for people with T1D, which has motivated him to develop as a guide and leader of people with the same condition. Being able to help his friends with T1D has led him to train as a doctor and thus be able to go where a patient with T1D could not go and only a doctor could.At 30 years old, he is now training as an Endocrinology resident at the Japanese Hospital.

Daniela Rojas Jiménez

Daniela Rojas Jiménez

T1D Advocate

Costa Rica

Daniela has lived with diabetes for 30 years. She is a psychologist specializing in diabetes and non-communicable chronic conditions, a diabetes educator and spokesperson for the LATAM diabetes community.

Daniela is a member of the Día Vida Association and an organizer of the camp for children and youth with diabetes in Costa Rica. She is a member of the Technical Advisory Team on Diabetes TAG-D of the WHO.

Dr Cristina Parsons Perez

Dr Cristina Parsons Perez

Capacity Development Director, NCD Alliance

 London

Dr Cristina Parsons Perez is the Capacity Development Director for the NCD Alliance where she is responsible for strengthening national and regional civil society to drive NCD prevention and control. She oversees flagship initiatives such as the NCD Alliance Advocacy Institute, the Our Views, Our Voices initiative and the Global NCD Alliance Forum.

Cristina has over 15 years of health advocacy and capacity development experience, having consulted with Catalyst Consulting Group on advocacy capacity building, worked at the American Cancer Society’s Global Health Department as Director of Cancer Advocacy, and worked at Breakthrough Breast Cancer UK (Breast Cancer NOW) developing policy and mobilising grassroots. She has a PhD in gene therapy from University College London.

Pilar Gómez

Pilar Gómez

Founder and Director DiabetesLATAM

Panama

I am the granddaughter, daughter, niece, cousin and sister, and mother of people with type 1 diabetes. This condition has been present in my life and in the lives of several of my relatives for many years. My 13-year-old daughter, Hannah, was diagnosed at the age of 7 and that’s when I realized how impactful a childhood diagnosis of type 1 diabetes can be on children and their families.

We were lucky enough to be diagnosed in the UK under the care of fabulous doctors, nurses, dieticians, and educators at University College London Hospital and it was there that I became an educated and empowered mother, ready to make any decision and address situations on behalf of Hannah, with education. and the support they gave us.

When we moved to Panama in 2017, I found a different reality and realized that the time had come to share the valuable teachings we received in the United Kingdom and that is how DiabetesLATAM was born.

I studied Psychology and got a master’s degree in Instructional Systems Design. I was certified as a diabetes educator by the Colombian Diabetes Association. My goal is to use my training and experience by promoting education and support programs for children and families with type 1 in Latin America, taught in Spanish.

Liliana Tieri

Liliana Tieri

Founder and Executive Director of the Association for Diabetes Care in Argentina CUI.D.AR.

Argentina 

With more than 20 years of experience in the socio-health sector, Liliana is a tireless fighter who works to improve the quality of care, accessibility and quality of life for people with diabetes until a cure is found.

She is involved in the formulation of public policies in Argentina with the aim of transforming them into solid, inclusive, equitable and effective policies for people with diabetes.

In 2001 Liliana founded CUI.D.AR, a non-profit NGO that works for children, youth and adults living with diabetes to minimize the impact of this chronic condition on their lives and that over the years became the largest Community of People with Diabetes in Argentina, and the second in Latin America.

Annie Sanchez

Annie Sanchez

Indigenous NCDs Advocate

 USA/Ecuador 

Annie Sanchez is a cell and molecular biology researcher. She is currently a doctoral candidate at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, where she investigates the biology behind specific NCDs called Roberts Syndrome and Cornelia de Lange Syndrome.

Annie has served as a Youth Representative for Caring and Living as Neighbours (CLAN) at the United Nations, as a Science Policy Scholar for the National Science Policy Network, and as a regional director of social justice concerns for the National Association for the Graduate and Professional Studies in the United States. Annie was born and raised in Ecuador until she was 12 years old and is learning more everyday about her Indigenous heritage. She is a passionate advocate for inclusion of vulnerable populations, including First-Nation People’s voices and in global NCD discussion.

Meet the Organisers

Dr Frank Brennan

Dr Frank Brennan

Palliative Care Physician and Lawyer

Australia

Dr Graham Ogle

Dr Graham Ogle

General Manager, Life for a Child

Australia

Dr Kate Armstrong

Dr Kate Armstrong

President, CLAN (Caring & Living As Neighbours)

Australia

Emma Klatman

Emma Klatman

Global Policy and Advocacy Manager, Life for a Child

United Kingdom

Dr Alicia Jenkins

Dr Alicia Jenkins

President, Insulin For Life

Australia

Jehangir Sidhwa

Jehangir Sidhwa

Member, Board of Directors, Insulin for Life

Australia

Social Toolkit

Please help us spread the word about the workshop by posting these graphics on your social media channels.

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Join me at this #T1D workshop where we’ll hear how young people are changing the advocacy game in their countries. Let’s come together, share knowledge, and make a difference for young people living with #diabetes.

Register: lifeforachild.org/workshop

Life for a Child USA Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization EIN 47-4901579.

Diabetes Overseas Aid Fund T/A Life for a Child is a registered charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.

Life for a Child is managed by Diabetes Australia.

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